


thorns

by flwrseul



Series: thorns [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gang World, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Mob, Dong Si Cheng | WinWin is Whipped, F/M, Gang NCT, Light Angst, Mafia NCT, Major Original Character(s), Mark Lee (NCT)-centric, Mentioned Park Jisung (NCT), Mentioned Suh Youngho | Johnny, Mentioned Zhong Chen Le, Murder, NCT 127 Ensemble-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23436025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flwrseul/pseuds/flwrseul
Summary: ❝it would be so easy for me to put a bullet right through that pretty little head of yours, remember that.❞mark lee seemed to have it all, a loving girlfriend, a great group of friends, excellent grades, and not to mention, he's quite handsome.min yunhee, an aspiring journalist decides to follow him around for a month so she can use him as the main subject of her upcoming newspaper article titled "thorns" as a futile attempt to prove to her fellow students that there's more to mark than what meets the eye. but during her research she finds herself in many unsafe situations due to her newfound knowledge of mark's true identity ; the leader of a ruthless and lethal gang.❝even the prettiest of roses have thorns❞ that was it, that was all she wanted to prove. but with her life now on the line, who knows if she'll even live long enough to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a journalist?
Relationships: Mark Lee (NCT)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: thorns [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685911
Kudos: 4





	1. the beginning

"you're not seriously going to stalk mark lee for a month and then write about it are you yunhee? please god just let this be another one of your lame ass jokes." my best friend na eunbi groans as she sticks yet another heaping spoonful of rice into her mouth.

"it's not stalking it's called collecting data on the subject- and i'm serious about this! this is one of my greatest ideas, if not my best one yet-"

"are you sure about that? because the last time you claimed something was your best idea yet we ended up mopping the cafeteria floors every single weekend for MONTHS, and we're also banned from school dances, permanently." eunbi dramatically interrupts me, flicking a grain of rice off her chin.

"that doesn't sound fun to me." hyeseop, the third and final member of our small friend group chirps in, his eyes glued to his phone screen as he plays his favorite game geometry dash.

"shut it seop at least you ran away. before they could catch you... you can still attend prom, unlike yunhee and i."

"yeah yeah." hyeseop replies lazily, shrugging eunbi off so he can once again devote all of his attention to his game.

"anyways..." i state, clearing my throat so that eunbi will focus back on me.

"what?" she asks, rolling her eyes.

"i still can't believe you're not on board with this. i'm talking about THE mark lee, mr. 4.0 gpa, mr. president of the math club, mr. homecoming king every single year since the ninth grade?! come on there has to be some serious dirt surrounding him that no one even knows about because of this good boy facade he prances around with!"

"i doubt it yunhee, some people simply just have decent lives, and are decent people. you know that right?

"i know but... doesnt it all seem so... fake..?" i ask softly, popping my bubblegum before squinting at mark lee sitting on the other side of the cafeteria, laughing with his friends as his girlfriend runs her fingers through his freshly dyed black hair.

"i'm telling you eunbi... he's hiding something behind that dorky smile, and i'm gonna figure out what it is."

hyeseop fake gags before looking up from his phone for the first time throughout the entire thirty minute lunch period.

"you sound like you have a crush on him." he deadpans, standing up and putting his phone into the pocket of his cargo pants. the bell is going to ring soon.

"what- i do not have a crush on mark lee, that's gross" i reply bluntly, standing up and picking up my things scattered across our lunch table.

"ooooh someone has a crush." eunbi teases me, batting her long eyelashes and clasping her hands to her heart.

"his dorky smile." hyeseop whispers mockingly, smacking his hands onto his face.

"i'm gonna shove a fork up your ass you whore! i don't like mark lee!" i yell just a little too loud, causing people at surrounding lunch tables to overhear and laugh at me.

one of the annoying underclassmen park jisung sitting at a nearby table shoots up out of his seat and grins at me,"you like markie?"

"no i don't like mark." i reply unconvincingly. truly, i don't like him. why would i? we're not friends, hell, we're not even acquaintances. we had one class together two years ago. he handed me my pencil after i dropped it maybe two or three times. so what?

"i'm gonna go tell him." jisung teases me, causing me to mentally facepalm so hard i felt my palm tingle.

i could feel my face heating up now, people were turning and looking at jisung and i just because he was making a big deal out of nothing. if only hyeseop and eunbi hadn't been so loud with their pointless teasing. ah, that would've been nice.

"do it!" jisung's friend chenle encourages him, laughing manically as he pushes his thick glasses up on his slim nose bridge.

"don't you dare." i snap, glaring at chenle with sharp and serious eyes. hoping to intimidate him into being quiet.

"so you do like him then?" jisung asks, smiling smugly at me as if he had just held me at gunpoint and forced me to confess my undying love for mark.

"for fuck sake i dont like him so stop making a scene and sit down." i whisper harshly through gritted teeth.

"what's going on here jisung?" an unfamiliar voice spoke. i turned around to see mark standing beside the nearby trashcans, throwing his girlfriend's empty lunch tray away.

hyeseop and eunbi avoid looking in his direction, it seems they already knew who it was that spoke. of course they would recognize his voice, they've had more encounters with him than i have.

"well you see mark, someone here has a crush on you." jisung replies, slinging his thin arm over my shoulder. he smells like he put on too much cologne on and i cough, fanning my hand in front of my face.

"oh... is that so?" mark asks, eyeing me up and down so quick it was barely noticeable.

"no it is not... and jisung you seem to be forgetting we're not buddies." i clarify, removing his limp arm from my shoulder.

"i see." mark says gently, running his fingers through his soft black locks and smiling.

he was a man of few words, that was painfully obvious.

"well uh i'm going to be going now." i say before awkwardly grabbing my things and backing up from my lunch table, hyeseop and eunbi following after me as i wall out of the cafeteria.

the lunch bell rang and everyone in the noisy cafeteria hurried to get up and collect their things before heading over to their next class.

"you stupid fucks why would you joke about me liking him? especially when he's friends with like half the school." i complain as the three of us make our way down the crowded hallway, stopping by my locker where hyeseop and eunbi now store their things because they both forgot their locker combinations.

"sorry yun, i didn't think someone would overhear." hyeseop apologizes, trying to hold back a shit-eating grin.

"i'm sorry too but you have to admit, it was kinda funny." eunbi joins in, trying to raise my spirits.

i sigh and lean my head forward to rest on my cold blue locker. it surely wasn't a funny situation to me.

"maybe i'll find it funnier in the future." i told myself aloud, turning around to face my friends.

"probably, now let me get my textbook, you're blocking it, like a log."

"of what... shit?" i snort, immediately slapping my hand over my face.

"i thought you said your snort went away." eunbi laughs, gently pushing me away from my locker so she could unlock it.

"i thought it did."

"want me to break your nose for you so you can get a free nose job?" hyeseop asks, bringing his clenched fists up to my face and pretending to punch me.

i glare at him. "want six wooden spoons up your ass? so you can have someone wheel you around everywhere in a wheelchair until they're surgically removed?"

"uh no thanks." he quickly puts his hands down and back into his pockets.

the three of us quickly got our things out of my locker and part ways, hyeseop going to math class, eunbi going to art class and me going to the class i dread the absolute most.

physical education.


	2. the article

just a few seconds after the final bell stopped ringing i make it safely into the locker room without anyone pointing out my tardiness. lucky me. the last thing i need today is to get an hour long afterschool detention for being late to another one of my classes.

as i quickly walk through the girls' locker room i keep my eyes glued straight to the dirty tile floor. they all know i'm bisexual so they feel weird about me seeing them half naked. making me feel like an outcast and a creep here, so i'll most likely be getting a well deserved schedule change on tuesday after our lengthy three day weekend.

i finally reach miss jung's office and i slowly shuffle into it, leaning on the cold metal doorframe while i wait for her to notice my presence.

"what do you need this time yunhee?" she snaps, looking up at me from her computer screen with intense eyes.

i gulp and slowly reach to hold onto my stomach with my right hand, puffing it out slightly so it looks like i'm bloated.

"i have period cramps ma'am." i whisper softly, silently praying she won't force me to play dodgeball with everyone else today. i hate dodgeball with every bone in my body and to make things worse, i always get picked last for teams.

"you had felt unwell last week, also on dodgeball day. am i beginning to sense a pattern with your deceitful behavior?" 

my eyes widen and i let out a soft gasp, quickly closing my mouth afterwards so she doesn't grow suspicious and thinks she caught me in the act.

"but miss jung i really do have them, i couldn't get any rest last night because they've been so intense lately and we also ran out of pain medication." i lie, holding onto my puffed out stomach with both of my hands and slightly hunching over as i pretend to wince at pain throbbing in my stomach.

she rolls her intense eyes at me before aggressively picking out a pass to the nurses office from her desk drawer.

"this is the last time i'm letting you get away with this, got it?" she hisses, picking up a pen and taking the cap off with her teeth before spitting it out and signing the nurses pass.

"yes ma'am i understand." i nod as she hands me the pink slip of paper, her dry wrinkly hands graze mine and i cringe.

"now go and don't come back." she groans, going back to eyeing her computer screen and scrolling through whatever news article she's reading today.

"gang activity spikes in seoul"

i catch a quick glimpse of the title before quickly turning around and marching gleefully out of her office, a wave of relief washing over me as soon as i'm completely out of the building.

"i can't believe she let me out of her class again." i laugh, ripping up the nurses pass and throwing it away in a nearby trashcan before walking in the direction of to where i'm really going, my journalism class that i also happen to have next period too.

my journalism teacher is without a doubt my favorite teacher i've ever had. he's an ex newspaper journalist who's laid back, funny, kind, and also just happens to be gay, which is why he understands why i'd rather come to his classroom instead instead of physical education where i'm made out to be a weirdo and a creep amongst my female peers.

i walk into his classroom and he immediately looks up at the door and recognizes me.

"she let you out again huh? i'm surprised." he chuckles, putting the newspaper he's reading down and signaling for me to come over to his desk.

the other students dont bother looking up, they all know about me and my physical education situation by now so it's not a big deal. especially since many of the kids in here are lgbt+ themselves. they get it.

i make my way inbetween a few occupied desks before approaching him, trying not to bump into any of them which is quite the challenge because of how odd mr. park's classroom layout is.

as soon as we make eye contact he opens his clean shaven mouth to speak.

"have you read this article in the newspaper yet? it's an excellent example for you to learn from... even more so because it's a crime report. you want to go into crime journalism, correct?"

"yep, you remembered." i reply before letting my eyes flicker to look at the newspaper article placed on his desk in front of me.

"oh? i think this is the same article miss jung was reading on her computer."

"interesting... why don't you go have a look at it at an empty desk and then i can bring you your real work for class in a few minutes."

"sounds good to me." i whisper softly before picking the wrinkled newspaper up and walking over to the empty desk at the other side of the room that i normally sit at, next to a pink haired boy whose name i don't even know.

i begin reading the newspapwr article with a slightly parted mouth, silently mouthing words so i don't disturb other students in the class.

[ possible trigger warning / sensitive material ]

"after our detectives worked hard with officers and other government officials alike for several days to try to piece together countless crime reports submitted by citizens both over the phone and down at the police station. they have determined that there are an unspecified amount of men roaming seoul alleyways wearing all black clothing with caps and masks marked with neon green x's severely beating unsuspecting people and robbing them of everything they're carrying down to their very underwear. when they wake up they are in complete shock and often half frozen from this cold january weather. some are found with stab wounds and severe internal bruising from what is suspected to be a baseball bat by doctors. the only confirmed death to have been reported thus far was from an anonymous call, claiming that the deceased body of a man was found mutilated and stuffed into a suitcase near the gangnam train station. sure enough police found the body as well as the phone used to make the report, smashed against a wall and cleared of fingerprints. police are currently trying to identify the body and track down the owner of the broken phone"

i shiver at the thought of stumbling upon a body stuffed in suitcase... could you imagine the smell of such a thing? gross.

i felt a tap on my desk and turn my head to see the boy sitting next to me staring into my eyes as he rests his head on his hands folded together and placed onto his desk.

"whatcha reading?" he asks, trying to take a peek of the article placed on my desk.

i slide it closer to him and his eyes widen as they quickly skim the article i pointed out to him.

"damn." he remarks, looking back up at me.

"you into this kind of stuff?" he asks after a few moments of silence.

"what kind of stuff? murder?"

"just crime in general i guess, i overheard mr. park mention something about you wanting to become a crime journalist." he clarifies, sitting straight up in his seat.

"oh... yeah i am, are you?" i reply.

"ehh not really i just need to pass this class. that's cool that you like it though." 

"what's your name?" i ask him curiously. i haven't seen him anywhere at school before except for during this class whenever i get to skip physical education.

"dong sicheng." he drawls, resting his head back down on his desk. he looks tired.

"that's pretty, i'm min yunhee. nice to meet you."

"same to you." he stammers, taken aback by my sudden compliment. he then buries his face back into his arms and stays that way for quite a while so i assume he doesn't want to talk to me anymore.

i shrug and rest my chin in my palm as i finish up reading the newspaper article.

"meanwhile in other areas of seoul gang activity has suspiciously quieted down a tremendous amount, leaving police to wonder if the body they discovered could possibly be the body of kim hongjoong, the feared leader of the a-gang. could this new unnamed organization have wiped him and the rest of his gang out? or could they be hiding low and waiting to pull off something big? we will provide you with those details as soon as come across it. that's all we have to share with you on this topic today. remember to stay safe and not walk alone in alleyways at night time, or any other time of the day for that matter."

"hm." i mutter quietly to myself before feeling someone looking at me. i look up to see mr. park sticking out worksheets from his hands for me to complete.

"here's your work for today. feel free to complete it early or wait until your actual class period starts." he speaks.

"thanks, i'll just start working on it now." i decide, gently taking the small stack of papers from his hands and setting them on my desk.

"what'd you think about the article?" he asks.

"very interesting... could that new gang really have knocked down a-gang so easily though? police have been trying to get rid of them for nearly a year..."

mr. park shrugs

"if they did then it sounds like we really have something to be afraid of now."

"yep." i reply before he walks away and begins talking to another student.

i sigh and begin working on my classwork, feeling a light headache starting to form in the side of my head.

thank god it's friday.


	3. the mall

"it's a shame hyeseop couldn't make it again." eunbi blabs, taking a sip of her mixed berry smoothie as the two of us sit down at an empty booth of the mall's food court.

"it is.. what is he so busy doing today anyway, jacking off and playing video games all day long?" i ask, taking a bite out of my cheese dipped soft pretzel.

"i don't doubt that for a second." eunbi replies, pulling her phone out of her side bag and scrolling through her instagram feed. leaving me to scan the mall for people i recognize out of boredom, due to my phone shutting down just moments prior.

i hear a familiar laugh coming from the nearby dairy queen line and my eyes flicker to find the source. i see slim, averagely tall man with black hair standing next to a slighlty shorter woman with dyed blonde hair.

"hey eunbi, you don't think mark would be here with his girlfriend today would you?" i ask, intensely squinting my eyes at the back of the man's head to try and determine whether or not he really is mark.

"considering ha chaeyoung just posted a picture of mark smiling near the food court, it's likely." she answers, her eyes not leaving her phone as she continues to drink her smoothie.

i furrow my eyebrows and look back at her, "who's ha chaeyoung?" 

"his girlfriend, did you seriously not know that?" 

"no, why would i?" i scoff, rolling my eyes and taking another bite out of my soft pretzel.

eunbi sets her phone face down on the table before leaning closer to me and opening her glossy mouth to speak. 

"yun sweetie, you're the one that's going to follow him around starting tuesday, remember? you wouldn't stop going on and on about it on friday."

"but that doesn't mean i have to know everything about every single person in his life... that'd take far too long... i just have to know everything about him."

eunbi laughs and shakes her head at me. "i guess that makes sense."

"-oh don't turn around now." eunbi quickly whispers to me. moments later i feel a gentle burst of wind hit the back of my head as mark and his girlfriend walk past our booth, sitting down in the one right behind eunbi.

eunbi picks her phone back up off the table and quickly unlocks it before typing away in her notes app and gently sliding it across the table to me.

Notes

do you want me to record their conversation for you? i am sitting right behind mark, i'll be able to make out their conversation better than you can sitting all the way over there.

i gently nibble on my bottom lip before slowly picking up her phone and thinking of a response to type up.

of course i want to say yes. i want dirt on this man, i want the beans to be spilled, i want tea, i want... well you get the point. but it almost feels morally wrong to start observing him right now while he's on a date with his girlfriend, just almost.

her phone automatically times out and shuts off, so i simply slide it back over to her and nod while smiling. she grins back at me and unlocks her phone again, clicking on the voice memo app and pressing record.

she pretends to hold her phone up to her right ear as if she were waiting for a call while picking at her nails on her other hand.

i could barely understand what mark and chaeyoung were saying. they both speak so softly. but boy did i know this was going to be good.

this went on for a few achingly long minutes before the two of them got up and threw away their empty ice cream cups, leaving the food court.

i let out a quiet squeal as soon as they were out of sight and turned to face eunbi, grinning from ear to ear.

"eunbi i can't believe you! i thought you said my plan was ridiculous and that you didn't want to help me... i'm glad you came around." i thank her.

"yeah yeah, don't think i'm going to help you stalk him all the time from now on. this is a one time thing got it?" she clarifies.

i recoil, my smile fading for a moment before i whisper yet another quiet thank you to her. i pull my earbuds out of my pocket and untangle them before clicking them into her phone placed at the center of the table.

i hand her the right earbud as i hold the left earbud close my ear and she presses the play button of the audio recording. god i feel like a real crime journalist right now, collecting evidence.

"i always love coming here," chaeyoung whispers softly, her voice barely audible. eunbi jacks up the volume on her phone.

"i know i remembered." mark replies.

"thanks again for helping me keep up this uh, act for so long." she adds, her words followed by an awkward laugh.

"oh yeah of course, but how much longer do you think we'll need to keep pretending?" mark asks quickly.

eunbi and i make eye contact before looking back down at her phone. what act are they talking about?

"is there someone you're interested in?" she asks after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"no no, it's not anything like that, just wondering."

"oh okay, well, to tell you the truth i'd like to wait until after prom for us to stop hanging around each other. but i guess it's up to you if you want to break-up before that. i won't force you to stay with me or whatever." chaeyoung rambles nervously.

"nah after prom should be fine." mark calmly agrees.

"cool." 

"are you going to come with me to math club again? it's on tuesday this week." mark asks.

"what time? 

"it's going to be right after school in mr. lee's classroom. he won't be there of course."

"i'll be there, a real girlfriend would support her boyfriend's school activities right?" she laughs, mark joining in with her a few moments later.

"so about prom-"

suddenly the audio cuts out and eunbi groans, looking at her phone only to discover she ran out of storage space mid-recording.

i was spacing out, staring blankly at our booth's table as i thought over mark and chaeyoung's conversation. what in the world were they talking about? keeping an act up? lasting until after prom? how a real girlfriend would support her boyfriend?

"what does it all mean?" i ask myself softly, raising my right hand up to my dry lips and picking at them.

eunbi quickly slaps my hand away from my face.

"thats gross don't pick at your dead skin."

"right, thanks." i reply before asking her a question brewing in my mind.

"i'm so confused by their conversation... aren't you?"

eunbi shrugs and texts me the audio file before deleting it and slipping her phone into her bag.

"anything taken out of context can be confusing.

"true but wasn't this like.. extra confusing? what act is mark helping her keep up... and what were they saying about lasting until after prom? there's no way they're fake dating are they?" i blurt out.

"i doubt it. they've been dating since sophomore year of highschool... and have been friends since freshmen year. there's no reason to fake date for that long."

"yeah yeah i guess you're right, but i'm not going to completely rule that explanation out just yet. they're hiding something i feel it in my stomach."

eunbi laughs and mixes her half melted smoothie with her straw.

"are you going to go to the math club meeting on tuesday to investigate them?" 

i nod.

"it's a good opportunity to learn more about mark, and maybe decipher how mark and chaeyoung act around each other. i am pretty good at reading body language you know."

"yep... but i feel like you're forgetting you suck at math." eunbi replies bluntly.

"i'll study over the rest of the weekend it'll be fine, i have two days." i shrug, eating the last of my soft pretzel and dusting off the excess salt from my fingers.

"whatever you say." she says as she slurps up the rest of her smoothie.

"should we go shop around now?" i ask her, rubbing my hands on a napkin.

"you sure you don't want to go find mark and his girlfriend and stalk them some more?

i roll my eyes at her and stand up, she gets up after me.

"yes i'm sure. i've gotten enough info on him for today."

"alright." eunbi breathes out as the two of us walk towards a nearby clothing shop, throwing our trash out on the way there.

math club after school on tuesday.

don't forget.


	4. the bench

THORNS ; CHAPTER FOUR

"you're actually studying for a math test... is this a prank? did eunbi put you up to this to shock me?" hyeseop remarks, watching me with wide eyes as i frantically read over the math notes i took throughout the weekend.

the two of us are currently shivering in the cold january weather as we sit outside the front doors of our high school. waiting to be let in so i can go speak to my counselor for a schedule change and so hyeseop can go eat breakfast. 

i laugh so hard at hyeseop's assumption that i snort. which makes hyeseop break out in laughter and oink at me.

"shut up before i step on your new shoes... and i'm not studying for a math test, i'm studying for math club." i clarify. turning to a new page in my math note filled binder and skimming through it.

"math club? since when have you been a part of the math club?" hyeseop asks, furrowing his dark eyebrows.

"aha!" he exclaims, snapping his fingers together as he makes a realization.

"mark's the leader of that club isn't he? and you're studying so you won't look like a total dumbass when you show up?" he asks, connecting the dots in his mind. he doesn't have a higher than average i.q. for nothing.

"ding ding ding, we have a winner." i reply in my best game show host voice. i finish reading the last page of my math notes and set my binder down flat in my lap, resting my head on the cold brick building behind me.

a yawn escapes my chapped lips and i silently curse myself for getting up earlier than usual just to take more math notes. slacking off and cheating all year in math class was finally biting me right in the ass.

finally, the seven a.m. opening bell rings and all the students waiting outside our school are let inside, including hyeseop and i, who went our seperate ways immediately after stepping inside the warm building.

i quickly make my way towards the counselor's office so i can get my schedule changed as soon as possible, but somehow when i reach the benches placed in front of the counselor's office, mark lee is already sitting there. slouching as a yawn escapes his pink lips.

i do a double take before slowing down and awkwardly standing by the opposite side of the old bench. he doesn't pay any notice to me. he's busy tapping away on his phone, probably texting his friends or his girlfriend.

i quickly take my phone out of my pocket and begin to text hyeseop and eunbi about the situation, so i can ask them whether or not i should try to talk to him, but in the middle of typing my message i feel mark's eyes staring straight at the side of my head.

"it's you." he drawls, his voice laced with tiredness. i turn my head to look at him and notice dark bags under his normally bright eyes, he must've not slept well last night.

"it's me." i mumble softly, not knowing how to reply.

a few moments of silence pass by before he pats the empty spot next to him on the bench.

"there's room for two, if you want to sit down i mean."

"uh, sure." i reply, slowly plopping down on the bench next to him. i set my bulky backpack down on my lap and rest my chin on its scratchy material.

"so what're you here for?" he asks, sliding his phone into his pocket and correcting his posture.

"i'm trying to get out of my p.e. class and transfer into art so i can have a class with my friend eunbi." i answer, staring straight at the blue painted wall in front of us.

"nice, what period?"

"i have p.e. right after lunch so fifth."

"ah, if art's full you should transfer to computer science or something, it's hella fun." he speaks with me comfortably, allowing a curse word to slip out of his mouth. it felt shocking to hear him curse. 

"i'll keep that in mind." i nod, pursing my lips together before opening my mouth to speak again.

"what about you?"

"i'm just here to talk to miss hayashi about extracurriculars and shit." he curses again. 

"oh, like the math club?" i suddenly blurt out. immediately regretting bringing it up afterwards. god i really hope he doesn't think i'm stalking him... or that i like him for that matter.

he nods slowly.

"right, like the math club."

"i-i was thinking of coming today so that's why i brought it up." i ramble, trying to revive our dying conversation.

"oh really?" he asks, his face lighting up. "it's in mr. park's room after school today, i'd love to see you there."

i nod nervously, finally working up the courage to make eye contact with him instead of just staring blankly at the wall.

"i'll try to make it." i whisper, staring into his eyes as he stares back into mine. strangely enough, in this very moment he doesn't seem as strange or intimidating as he did last friday at lunch.

just as mark opens his mouth to say something else, the door to the counselor's office flings open. revealing our schools beloved senior counselor; miss hayashi.

"hello you two." she chirps, walking out in front of us and clasping her hands together in front of her lap. she's wearing a bulky sweater and a long floral skirt with her thick black glasses. 

"which one of you wants to go first?" she asks, smiling sweetly at us. she has a bit of red lipstick stuck on her front teeth but i decide not to point it out.

"he can, he was here first." i reply quickly before mark can get the chance to ask if i want to go first. definitely something he would do.

"fantastic, follow me into my office for a moment then." she speaks, walking back into her office with a spring in her step. i envy her high levels of energy. 

mark shuffles to get up and follows her into her office, but not without looking back at me for a split second first.

as soon as the door to her office closes i feel relieved, allowing myself to slouch and bury my face into my backpack to rest my eyes for a few moments.

i'm so tired, it would be so easy for me to fall asleep right now and just have miss hayashi wake me up after she's done talking to mark... mark... oh no mark... what if mark sees me sleeping out here. that would be embarrassing.

i quickly jerked my head up from my backpack and looked up to see sicheng standing right in front of me, his pink hair messy and uncombed.

he smiles and folds his clothed arms over his broad chest.

"so it was you sitting here." he chuckles, sitting down next to me and setting his backpack down on the floor between our feet.

"i didn't even hear you walk up to me... are you some sort of ninja?" i whisper.

he shrugs.

"i guess you could say that."

"are you going to come read more gang articles in fifth period again today?" he asks, making conversation.

"actually, i'm transferring out of my p.e. class today and going into art to be with my friend. so i won't be coming to journalism during fifth period anymore."

"what really? but you're like the only person i know in that class. you're not gonna make me talk to other people now are you?" he tsk's, shaking his head in disapproval.

"you had no problem striking up a conversation with me on friday, just try doing that with the other people in that class. it'll be fine."

"but i have tried that. no one wants to talk to me and that class is boring as fuck... i can't just sleep through it every day i need socialization."

i sigh and tilt my head.

"so you're suggesting i transfer into your journalism period and switch my sixth period into like... computer science or something?"

"yeah, why not? i've heard good things about computer science." 

"what am i supposed to tell my friend i was supposed to be in art class with then? she's going to be disappointed."

"that a cute guy wants to flirt with you during journalism?" he answers, wiggling his thick eyebrows and smiling mischievously at me.

i scoff and roll my eyes before looking back at him again.

"now hold on just a minute mister, are you implying that you're into me." i ask, pointing to myself.

he shakes his head.

"no but if you lie to your friend and say that, she'd be fine with it right? isn't that how girl friendships work?"

"well... yeah sometimes."

"alright then it's settled. switch to my class period." he says, getting up and slinging his backpack back onto his shoulders.

"i'm not."

"yeah you are." he winks at me before walking down the hallway and out of sight.

i groan and smack my hand onto my forehead.

"what am i going to do?"


End file.
